


The Lucky Seven (The Loser's Club Hogwarts AU)

by Delly_antics



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bev and Richie live together, Beverly has baddest bitch alive status, Bisexual Beverly Marsh, Bisexual Bill Denbrough, Child Abuse, Eddie always gets howlers, Eddie has a Dad! (he's important), Eddie is the only Loser that is out, Every Loser is appreciated and important, Everyone else are demonic hell spawns that need leashes, Everything in the Harry Potter canon is still real, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Georgie Denbrough Lives, Henry Bower's Cousin has a relationship with Richie (It's a plotline), Human Pennywise (IT), I like the book better than a portion of the IT adaptations don't attack me, I'll add more tags as time goes by, I'm so tired of just Reddie fics, I'm super excited for this fic, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Inspired off of a Percy Jackson AU I found, Kissing, Like 16 don't worry, M/M, Mike is Soft, Mike is basically Ron Weasley but better, Mike is probably the dad, New Teachers and Professors!, New Villains :), No Smut, Original Character(s), POV Alternating, References and plot points to the book, References to the book, Richie has abandonment issues and ADHD, Slow Build, Stan is Sad and Scared, Stanley is the mom, chaos will ensue, or does he?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-01-22 12:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21302057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delly_antics/pseuds/Delly_antics
Summary: Modern problems require modern solutions, right? Well, The Quill of Acceptance and The Book of Admittance thought so. After new magical rules being implied by the Ministry of Magic, transfer students outside of the UK were finally being chosen in favor of Hogwarts after a tumble with the American Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizarding.The Loser's and a couple of other students were fortunate to be brought into this new era of Hogwarts, with any mentions of Voldermort becoming history (foreshadowing) the school is thought to be safe once more. (When was it ever safe though)Read Notes for more :)
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	1. The Letters

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This story will involve a lot of Ships (canon or not) and a lot of my own OC's! Once I get the opening chapter in then I will be sure to create a separate chapter strictly for canon characters (including faces) and a separate chapter strictly for my Original Characters! Please DO NOT expect smut in this, only brief mentions. And I will be skipping a few years up, so the first chapter or two will be about The Loser's being in their First Year, then from there, we will be aging them up. Also, this will hold multiple perspectives! I will make it clear when we switch from one POV to another :) 
> 
> This is my first actual fic on Archive of Our Own, but I will still take criticism the same. If my Grammar is off? Blame Grammarly. If my jokes aren't funny? Tell me so I can read more fics and fix em up! Anyway, this will have a plot and ships won't happen right away. This will not be a total slow-burn but it will take time. 
> 
> I do take suggestions and anything you believe could be added to the story :) I shall try to keep my updates frequent and juicy (I can usually write fast on the spot, it's just fact-checking and proof-reading that gets me) 
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy this :) I promise it'll be a fun ride.

**Chapter 1: The Sorting Hat**

**Eddie**

Traveling was a completely new and terrifying phenomenon for Eddie Kaspbrak. First off, he’s in a plane. Secondly, he’s in a confined space surrounded by adults he has no recognition of. And he’s barely 11.

He takes a puff of his inhaler, an act he finds to be quite embarrassing when he’s surrounded by towering adults, god, he wanted his Mommy more than anything right now. And where was she? Stuck back in a little town called Derry, miles, and miles away from Eddie. But, not by will. Actually, if it were up to Eddie, he’d probably still be at home.

You see, Eddie was special. Not in the “special” way where he’d constantly have a fanny-pack at his side filled to the brim with unnecessary medical items. (Basically a First-Aid kit) Not in the “special” way he’d always have a doctor’s note excusing him from P.E. or certain vital lessons about the human body being taught in school. Nor in the “special” way he was repeatedly visiting the local Derry pharmacist, actually, kids hardly saw him outside of School. He was either at home or at the drug store, and he found it safer this way. Well, his mother thought so.

No, Eddie was special. Special as in, on a Sunday morning, the daily mail had come in.

_“Hold up, it’s Sunday. We don’t *get* post on Sunday” Ms. Sonia Kaspbrak had muttered under her breath. She held up a singular letter with a blue stamp mark, accompanied in the shape of a School Crest. Four animals untied in the crest, a Raven, a Badger, a Lion, and a Snake._

_Her eyes squinted through her musty glasses, the rather over-weight woman had been standing in the dining room doorway. This itself was peculiar as she would have normally sat down by now in her regular reclined chair, painting her overly pink nails with new designs and ordering around her husband, Gene Kaspbrak. Yet she stood quite tall for a woman of her size, leaving a small and meek Eddie to steadily peak behind her in hopes of reading the small letter._

_Eddie found this strange, a letter! Not Junk-mail or stolen food-stamps, no newspapers or magazines his mother had signed up for. It was a simple plain letter, his eyes narrowed down on it. He felt a wave of uneasy come over him, this forced him to quickly circle around his house and sit down in the living room. On a pristine and white carpet, he had cleaned with his father many times. It was safe, Eddie was safe._

_Gene, however, had found the courage to stand up next to Sonia Kaspbrak. He stood rather tall for a slim and scrawny man, yet his eyes were full of curiosity and wonder. Almost as if he had recognized the letter._

_“Gene. You need to get your little “war” buddies under control! They can’t be sendin’ mail like this in pure daylight! Not when Eddie is here” Sonia didn’t care how loud she was, no she didn’t. In fact, Eddie could have been absent from the room, his name simply nonexistent to her and more of the fact of her being upset at Gene._

_Yet instead of responding, his father snatched away the letter and began to open it. Leaving his wife dumbfounded as she glared red orbs into his face. He was sweating now as his eyes darted back and forward on the letter. Almost as if he was watching a game of vicious tennis, Eddie took note of this. Sonia, on the other hand, stood for none of it._

_“Excuse me? Do you really think anything in that letter is ten times as important then what’s in front of you?” She waited for a response but got no answer. “Gene!”_

_The woman stomped, and not-so-surprisingly the floor-boards creaked. They groaned under her weight, even bouncing Gene just a bit. But he didn’t care, his gaze soon drifted up to Sonia and a wicked grin appeared on his face. This scared Eddie._

_“Yes, yes actually” He pocketed a separate letter that had accompanied the main one and tossed the small parchment back to Sonia as he rushed around the house. This left her even more shocked as she began to actually chase him. He gathered a suitcase and had taken it down the hall, straight into Eddie’s room. Sonia began barking at him as clothes and books were tossed into the case. Meanwhile, little Eddie Kaspbrak had sat still in his living room. Glaring down at the dropped letter._

_Yelling was still ensuing a few feet away from him, yet he crawled toward the letter. Touching its stamp. It was wax, genuine wax too. Far from cheap, it had intention._

Now, Eddie Kaspbrak had the same letter in his hand. This time, his father had given him the remaining pieces. It was a full letter. He straightened it out a bit, rubbing his soft thumb over the wax once more. The plane shook a bit as he did so, causing his father to jolt-awake.

This sent Eddie quickly pocketing the letter and sitting back in his seat, right in the middle too. He frowned a bit and played with his tightly secured seatbelt. Gene gave him a look of concern as he stared at the letter pointing out of his pocket.

“You know, where we’re going. It’s safe,” His eyes softened as he realized how scared his son probably was. “You’ll be happier here.”

Eddie barely glanced up at his father and he held onto his inhaler gravely close. Along with a backpack in between his legs, also being tightly held. A small sigh escaped Gene, a tired one. He knew the separation of his mother would suffer, it would hold for this poor boy’s life.

“Dad,” Eddie squeaked out as he made the effort to look him in the eye. This surprised Gene, as he scrambled up a bit to give him his full attention. “Yes, Son?”

The “son” part, caught Eddie off guard. He had rarely started calling him that until they had left Derry.

“Can you tell me about the school again? The name, y’know what does it mean?” His big brown eyes had been filled with fear, then with awe as his father began to speak.

“Well, Son, we call it-”

**Beverly**

“_Hogwarts_? What the dick is a Hogwarts?” A bug-eyed Richie Tozier spat out as he sat upside down on Beverly Marsh’s bed. “Sounds like an STD-” His socks had been tapping the wall as he managed to read out the strange letter that was given to him on the rather breezy Sunday morning. “-And why the fuck are they giving this to us on a Sunday? Crackhead schools really would do anything to get our parent’s attention! Right, Bev?”

Beverly stood across the room in front of her dresser, casually folding socks and undergarments as she lazily grinned at Richie. A half-finished cigarette hung from her lips as she flickered her eyes towards him, then to the digital clock next to him.

“Hey Rich, it’s half-past 10 open the window” She paid no attention to the letter, and mostly to Richie as he groaned and trudged to the janky window between their two beds. Bev then strode over as she put out the bud, and flicked the little cig out the window into the alleyway below them.

Along with this window, the opening was accompanied by New York’s infamous street noises. Cars, people yelling, Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier running his mouth. “I mean, come on! Bev, you gotta tell me this doesn’t interest you in the slightest? If it was a scam, it’d be a dedicated one! Plus, who _writes_ mail! It’s not even printed”

Bev rolled her eyes as she eventually gave in and opened her underwear drawer, snatching out an equally as peculiar-looking letter. Richie stared in amusement as she hopped onto her bed, sitting with her legs crossed.

“I got one last week. Didn’t even mention it to the Mr. or the Mrs.” Her eyes danced with playful hints as she held it up smiling. This sent Richie to join her on the bed as they began to compare the two letters.

“I think it’s real.” The young girl had observed both down to the very fine print. “They know where we live, and, they know my last name” Her eyes joined Richie’s as they both shuddered a bit. Beverly had not been addressed by Marsh in a year or so, Tozier was now legal on her documents. And she liked it that way.

“Fine, but care to explain this shit on the back? Because quite frankly I don’t see a future where the two of us have enough money to even afford plane tickets. Let alone to fuckin’ London!” This was true, although Richie’s parents both worked, this didn’t mean they had extra cash for much. They barely got an allowance, well, Richie didn’t, he was too lazy for chores.

Beverly sat back as she gazed at the paper, it had an aura surrounding it. Something she felt deeper than in her mind, her soul. It danced in a tempting and teasing way as if this exact letter was calling at her. Bev couldn’t help but play with her short curls, biting her lip in a way that suggested her mischevious mind was already winding with ideas.

Richie took note of this action and groaned. “God, what does Mrs. Louis Lane have in store then? Are we telling my parents or no?” Usually, Richie would have gotten a response by now, but all that was left was pure silence as Beverly gazed at him in a suggestive manner.

_“It’s real, Rich”_ her voice echoed in his head, his eyes no longer bugging out, more tired really. Which was a first?

**Stanley**

The room was dark, but it was barely noon outside. Stanley kept his window shutters shut, he liked being able to focus in pure isolation sometimes. Other times he would have the urge to close and open the window a few times during his studies, never able to find the perfect mix of silence and natural noise.

But that wasn’t the point now, he had lost his train of thought. Right now, he was sitting on his bed, his hands neatly folded in his lap as his head thudded against his back wall. His room was pristine and well-kept. It was the perfect example of what a school-boy should have. The anatomy and drawn description of birds orderly framed on his walls, books of puzzles and historical events, an entire shelf dedicated to his Torah and small porcelain figures that would have represented the Jewish symbols. Yet instead, his room was blank.

As he looked around, he found it hard to see that this was ever once his room. Instead, it was now a place with an empty dresser, empty shelves, blank blue walls and a bed so basic it looked straight out of an Ikea set. Everything he once had that described his personality was gone, packed in a few suitcases. He was basically moving out. The only thing left being pencils and books for a school he didn’t even attend anymore.

Was his room that boring? So left of clutter that its personality had faded with a few posters taken down? Did this reflect off Stanley? Probably.

Yet even after his room was packed all into plain black travel bags, Stanley still couldn’t feel any of this was real. Not the elegant and clean letter than had been delivered to his front door perfectly. Not the unusual owl that nested outside of his window as he opened it in his dining room. None of it, even when his parents had begun to immediately start packing as they finished the letter. His father gave him a small talk about how he should continue his Religious readings with his time at Hogwarts, and his mother simply expressed her excitement as she booked their travel tickets.

Everything happened fast, too fast for Stan. He could only pray to himself in muttered breathes as his parents discussed the move downstairs a little too loudly. It was just a new school, right? Nothing could bother him, he would be leaving nothing behind. He wouldn’t even really miss his parents, his father’s constant talk of their Torah’s good writing, his mother’s quiet and shy demeanor.

Change scared him. This new school, or academy, or whatever, was scaring him. He had never seen his parents more adamant with something, and he was too scared to ask.

But he wouldn’t show it, no he would put on a brave face. For himself mainly. Stanley Uris wasn’t weak, and he definitely wouldn’t let anyone at Hogwarts know.

**Mike**

“Jesus Christ! Jessica! Come look at this!” Bill Hanlon had called out from the front porch, his forehead littered with beads of sweat as he slicked off his gloves. In front of him was the Hanlon family truck, an old red car that ran purely by magic, yet still left people wondering when the old thing would breakdown.

Fields and fields had surrounded the Hanlon residence, mostly farmlands that had been co-owned by a family not too far down from their old towering house. A large family of redheads that had been going through many generations by the time Mike and his own household had moved in. Mike remembered their names, The Weasley’s. The two folks had been similar in how they were brought up, yet Mike always knew to stay clear from their children.

A majority of them were rambunctious and active little witches/wizards, and Mike was rather peaceful, observant. Still, somehow, they were all outsiders in what they called “The Burrows”.

“Bill! What’s with the yelling?” An older yet elegant woman with her hair made into soft braids, her dark skin was smooth as she had folded both arms in a concerned manner. Both hazel eyes staring up into her husband as she had caught the first glimpse of what he was holding. Then, a smile. A warm and exciting smile broke out as the two leaped into a hug that was filled with nothing but love.

The Hanlon house had been empty so far as Mike’s fellow brothers and sisters were out and about, running family errands. This left little Mike on his own as he had usually stayed housebound. His day-to-day life would consist of making meat deliveries to his neighboring local markets, and going on scavenger hunts his father would leave him after work. Bill Hanlon did this for all the Hanlon kid’s, Mike just had the affinity for being able to finish them faster.

He’d leave them a small riddle, followed by clues and locations that the kids would have to travel to by bike. Each being historical sites, whether they were magical or not, each child would bring back a souvenir of their journey’s. This was Mike’s favorite past-time as he had been excited to absorb and digest all of the History his father had given him.

It had been almost a full year since the Hanlon had moved to the UK, a major change yet they were settled by the first month in. A working family, that’s what they were. Mike liked it like this, their growing happy family.

Yet it had gotten happier with the news of Mike being the first wizard of their generation. After finding the letter, Bill Hanlon quickly rushed Mike and his wife into the dining room, where they gathered around to discuss what this meant.

Mike couldn’t have been more ecstatic than he was now, his big wonderous brown eyes had been filled with awe and curiosity. He resembled his father in many ways.

“You mean, I’m a wizard? I’ll be living in a real old castle?” Mike’s young face beamed with excitement, Jessica Hanlon couldn’t help but pull him into a tight warming hug as she smiled. “Yes baby, that’s exactly what it means. But, it also means change.” She released him and gave him a stern look as she knelt in front of him. “A new school, all by yourself. With new people and new surroundings”

His father chimed in “But think of it as an adventure because you’ll be learning so many new things! With a lot of souvenirs to bring back,” Bill beamed down at Mike, his son.

“And you’ll be leaving by the end of the month” He added as he took a few steps to look out their kitchen window. “You’ll be traveling with The Weasley’s, understood?”

Mike had always been wary of them, yet, something told him that it would be like traveling with his own. They were all outsiders in reality.

“Of course, Dad.” He stood up eventually and stood next to Bill, holding his hand as his mind began to wander. It churned with new ideas and adventures that would soon await him. “Wait… what about the farm? The animals, the deliveries… your scavenger hunts!” He cried out, almost as if he was already leaving.

Bill simply smiled and knelt down to him. “Mike, Hogwarts is your new scavenger hunt. It’s where you belong, not us”

**Bill**

“C-c’mon G-g-Georgie! It’s for s-school! I won’t be g-g-gone for long, we’ll a-al-” Bill had stopped himself as he took a deep breathe and focused on his words. His mind subconsciously had already been muttering the same phrase he had used to contain his stutter.

_He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts._

A voice inside him echoed out this sentence as he began to talk once more “We’ll always have s-s-summer, Georgie” Bill had looked down upon his younger brother. They were alone in Georgie’s room, crafting small paper boats for Bill to take with him to his new school. Georgie was currently holding one close to his chest, he looked up at Bill with a slight frown. Their connection was more than a brother’s, better than they had with their parents at the very least.  
“Promise, Bill? If, if you leave then, I’ll be alone” Bill could have sworn his heart had dropped when he heard the word “Alone”.

“I promise. And, if e-everything works out then… then y-you’ll visit me on w-weekends once y-you guy-ys move here” Their parents had already worked out a living system, something they had in mind for a while anyway. Bill and Georgie both recognized this.

Before the letter of Hogwarts had arrived, the Denbrough’s family was surging with a long-awaited divorce. Sharon and Zack Denbrough had been falling out of love slowly, every day, really. This only enforced the two brother’s bond as Bill became more of a man to Georgie than their father had been.

Bill found their household to become dull in the past two years, the young boy watched his parents argue, then not speak at all. Yet when it was announced that Bill was special and needed to be in London by the end of the month, Zack had been more than open about moving their “family” there. Bill had no clue as to why he thought this would work, maybe to salvage the marriage? Maybe for a new start. His father never really discussed it, and his mother didn’t care. She went along because Zack had said so. And that’s how they all functioned.

Bill wanted nothing more than to escape this sort of life, the one where someone could die and everyone would shrug it off. How badly he wanted to bring Georgie along, but by the time their conversation in Georgie’s room had finished, it was already a month up. And Bill was already boarding a plane to a place he would call home in the next coming weeks.

He sat alone in a first-class seat, of course, his father could afford this any day. Yet, he chose not to go with him, Zack Denbrough wouldn’t even go with his own son to a new country. His excuse?_ “You’re old enough to travel alone, you have spending money and a list of everything you need right in your letter. We’ll see you in a month’s time”_

So there he sat, in a window seat traveling to new lands. In his hands, he held a small boat. Georgie kept their big paper boat, the one that could sail. But before they left, Georgie had taken the extra efforts to make a small clay one, one Bill could carry in his pocket anywhere he left.

The plane jolted as soon as Bill had begun to stand up, he had been on a plane before but, this was different. Georgie wasn’t here to crack jokes with him or watch movies with. He felt sick.

As he walked towards the restrooms, he could feel the awkward and painful silence of his surroundings. Adults sleeping everywhere, not a single-family in sight, except for a young boy in red shorts that seemed to fit his small figure, and a yellow polo that made him look somehow smaller. On one hand, he held onto a small blue inhaler, it reminded him of his brother Georgie, Georgie had asthma. It looked as if the boy was waiting for one of the restrooms to be unoccupied, Bill stood across from him as they waited silently.

This silence fell between them uncomfortably as Bill began to observe something other than the ground and its many specks, he eyed the smaller boy across from him, mainly his pockets. What stuck out of them, a folded up piece of paper, with a familiar stamped wax pendent peeking into view.

This caught Bill’s eye as he stuttered out the observation. “H-Hogwarts.” It wasn’t a question more than a statement, yet it had caught the boy’s eye.

The smaller boy instantly looked up and began to widen his eyes. He didn’t speak, he only gaped at him ever slightly. Was he shaking? Bill couldn’t quite say, it was too dim. Yet he still found the courage to keep talking, despite his impediment getting a bit worse.

“D-don’t w-w-worry. I kn-know about it, about Hh-...” he sighed and took another deep breath “About H-h-”

“Hogwarts. Yeah” The smaller boy responded as he looked up to finally face Bill instead of cowering sheepishly. “Did they invite you too, I mean, because you’re American?” he asked this question wearily as if Bill would start laughing at any moment because he was joking with the boy.

Bill nodded, holding up his own letter, the stamps the same color and same design. Just different addresses. The boy observed Bill’s letter, a hint of a smile on his lips. “William Denbrough? Your dad, he’s an owner of this big Insurance Firm in Maine, huh?”

Bill nodded again, a bit embarrassed to be known by his last name, but, it got him an introduction right? “A-actually, people ca-call be B-bill” He pocketed the letter and held out his hand to shake. “Wh-what about you?”

“Eddie, Eddie Kaspbrak. It’s cool to meet you, Bill” He took his hand lightly before tugging it back. Bill smiled at this action, Eddie looked cautious.

Eddie chuckled out in a nervous breathe.

“So, Hogwarts, huh?”

**Ben**

A plump little boy had waddled down the street’s of London, he chased after his rather tall and medium-sized mother. His attention being driven by the very structure of London buildings. Everything felt so proper and modern, Ben Hanscom had felt out of place.

The morning sky had settled in, a proper amount of fog and mist created a veil over London as Ben and his mother, Arlene Hanscom, walked down a winding path. Making their way through little crowds of children his age as well, all heading to the train platforms. “9 and 3 quarters?” His mother asked no one in particular, the two stopped walking on a bridge overlooking the station.

“Either these British-folk read numbers differently or I’m going blind and old!” She exclaimed with a nervous laugh, she grasped at her head desperately. Yet Ben was there next to her, on his toes trying to read the small card she held.

“You’re not old Mom, it’s just the British people” a young Ben had reminded her as he gave a soft smile, this forced Arlene to return the favor by hugging him tightly.

“What did I do to deserve you?” she got on her knees and pulled him close to her, handing him his bags. “Now come on, you have a train to catch” She eyed him carefully. Ben knew this was a goodbye, he didn’t know for how long, but it was a goodbye. For some time anyway. Hopefully not forever.  
Ben didn’t know what made him so special, what earned him that fateful card that appeared in the mail one day. But whatever it meant, he knew his mom was proud. Ben’s father died in the war, or well, died at war. Ben wasn’t even born yet when this had happened, so it had always been him and his mother. He knew, in all of his life, he knew to stay strong for her. And he did. He made himself, he made himself put up with all the moving, all her manic episodes, and all of the substantial amount of torment he went through for looking the way he did. Just one big fat boy.

His mother looked past that though, to her, she saw a beautiful young man with baby fat. And had never said a word to him about it. He knew Hogwarts would change that.

So when they finally got to the official 9 and 3 Quarter’s track, Ben couldn’t help but feel tears well up in his eyes and he was saying goodbye.

“Now Ben, don’t cry for me. Cry for your future, look where you’re going! Not me, I’ll be fine” she cried out and tugged him into a tight hug. It felt like it lasted half a second when really, Ben was almost left behind because of it.

“I won’t Mom, I’ll be brave, for you. I’ll be strong” And with that, he was escorted onto the train, alone in a cabin as he watched the train begin to move. Surrounded by tightening walls and a feeling of uneasiness. All until his cabin door was opened, and in it, two figures had been pushed into the car. A girl and a boy.

The boy wore glasses bigger than his face allowed for, and jeans a bit too big for his own good. His shirt was plain white, small stains crowded it and a Hawaiian shirt was placed lazily on top as he fell onto the seat across from Ben. He had big eyes and black hair that cascaded into waves. Then came the girl, she stumbled in, no particular hurry but she was there.

She caught Ben’s attention instantly, her fire-red hair yelled at him, her eyes were wild with adventure and she grinned like a fox upon seeing the boy in front of her fall into the cabin. Her outfit was simple, a white dress with small floral designs littered all over it, and maroon leggings that reached down to her knees. “See Rich, I told ya we’d find some seats”

“Fuck yeah! Finally, some priva-” Picking himself up, the boy known as “Rich” saw Ben sitting quite awkwardly as he looked at the two. “Gah, nevermind. Bev let’s keep looking..” he stood up and picked up his bag when the girl known as “Bev” closed the door behind her, stopping Rich in his tracks.

“Hey, mind if we sit here for the trip? I’m Beverly, and this asshat is Richie” She waltzed into the rest of the cabin, already sitting down across from Ben as if he had already said yes.

“Go right ahead, Beverly, I’m Ben” he gleamed a bit as his cheeks reddened. Besides him, Richie sat down and began to observe him. This caused Ben to focus his attention on the boy.

“Woah Haystack! You’re getting redder than Beverly’s hair right now!” He pushed up his glasses and avoided a very deathly stare from Beverly as she kicked him with her boot.

“Sorry about him, he’s a trash mouth who doesn’t know when to shut up” She rolled her eyes, as she lowered her feet from the kick, her food hit a bag. She looked at the bag beneath her, a soft chuckle escaped her as she reached into Ben’s belongings. Pulling out a small cassette tape, it featured painters tape with scribbled songs on it and a “Love, Mommy” note on it.

“New Kids On the Block? Jeez, Haystack that’s older than my mom” he basically lunged for the tape before failing miserably as Bev held it out of Richie’s reach.

“Beep beep Richie!” She snapped at him playfully before quickly spinning around to sit next to Ben almost too gracefully. Her moves were quick, compared to Richie being a bit lanky and sporadic. “Again, sorry Ben” Her smile widened as she held the tape to him.

Ben, however, was spilling with red as he had a look of horror on his face. Embarrassed was an understatement right now. He quickly shook his head and took the tape, their hands brushed against one another as he retrieved it. Bev noticed the change in Ben’s demeanor and huffed a bit, bumping shoulders with him as she asked “Have anything we can play this on for the ride? Maybe it’ll shut Rich up”

Ben’s eyes averted to his bag as he nodded and pulled out a cassette player, swiftly handing it to Bev before Richie could even acknowledge it.

“Alright alright I get it, you two would rather geek out to ancient tunes than listen to your practically best friend” Richie flipped them off graciously as he stood up and headed for the cabin door. Bev cocked an eyebrow as in to ask where he was going, but before she could open her mouth he already answered.

“I’m gonna see if I can yoink a treat off of that trolly we passed earlier, if I don’t return, I’m dead” He wiggled his eyebrows and quickly left the cart. Leaving Beverly and Ben alone.


	2. Platform 9 3/4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, the Loser's meet eachother :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH okay I just gotta say, I know I said that I would age up the character's soon for a big *time skip*, but I decided they should be fleshed out a bit more for maybe 3-4 chapters? So please expect another chapter or two of them being 11, then once the time skip is thrown at us we can move along with my plot. (Which I think you'll like) 
> 
> By the way, thanks for reading! Any of you who have given it a kudos or just read a simple sentence :) I'm working super hard to push out chapters frequently and I'll hopefully stay on the weekly update. Right now I plan on releasing at the least one chapter a week, but I'm probably going to release 2-3 a week because I'm a madman who enjoys this AU. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the rest of the chapter :) And Remember I won't be having any hinted-at ships before the age-up sequence because they're barely 11. Also also, I know there are only two POVs in this one, but I wanted to include every character this time around that didn't get much time to shine the last chapter.

_ Richie  _

  
  


Thankfully, the old woman with the trolley wasn’t too far ahead. Only problem? She was backed up by a far smaller boy. He had caught Richie’s eye immediately.

His hair was nicely combed and neatly put back in a dark brown, it clearly had a bit of wave to it, but whatever substances holding it together hid them. He stood barely to Richie’s shoulder, his eyes seemed to be bugging out from his head, and his eyebrows forming into his hairline. Was- was he yelling? No, he was just explaining something ever-so passionately to the poor elderly trolley woman. 

Richie knew he was going to have fun with this kid, who by the way, wasn’t even wearing his robes. Then again neither were Bev and Richie. Instead, he had a light vest with a grey button-up under, his pants black and belted to fit his tiny waist. The complete definition and idea of a square. 

“Hey professor, this is a grab and go situation, not a restaurant” Richie called from a couple of people behind the other boy. This resulted in a couple of giggles of a few students in front of them, and a not-so-friendly glare from the rambling boy. But the comment seemed to make him yield as the boy scrunched up his nose and handed a few coins to the woman, taking a few treats with him as he grudgingly moved past the crowd. 

Losing interest in actually going to rob the trolley, Richie instead swung back around and began following the small boy in interest. “So what’d you settle on? A bucket of MaGiCaL air?” Richie made exaggerated hand movements as he began to pester the boy. 

He glared back to his shoulder, offering a light smirk. “Yeah, I was buying one for your mom-” he stopped himself before quickly covering up his own mouth.    
  


“Holy crap- I’m sorry, that was rude” he flipped to face the much taller boy and stared up innocently. Almost as if he had never spoken so roughly in his life. 

Richie simply blinked at him before saying ever so confidently, “My Mother, is dead.” his face stone cold. 

The small boy then proceeded to hyperventilate a bit as he widened his eyes, his face reddened and he instantly reached for his pockets. He pulled out a disgustingly-dull blue and took one deep puff out of it before beginning to talk rapidly. “Christ, look sir I’m really sorry, I’m just a 1st year and I didn’t realize- itwasinsensitiveofmeandIpromiseitwon’thappenagain-” He was practically a tomato. 

A fierce hand came down on the boy's shoulder as Richie burst out into a non-exaggerated laugh. He coughed a bit but continued to howl as the boy stared at him in confusion, other students were beginning to stare. “H-hey! What’s so funny that’s your own mother-” he began to ramble before Rich put a hand up. 

“I’m just tugging your robes! But hey you should look at your face, it’s redder than a fucking baboon's ass” Richie began to choke on his laughter, the boy’s face now crinkling into a glare as he shoved Richie’s hand off of his shoulder. 

“Y’know you’re not funny, right? I mean who jokes about death-” he quickly took another hit off of the inhaler, shoving it back in his pocket. 

Yet right as he opened his mouth to talk again, another stranger seemed to join the party as a taller boy (taller than Richie at least) jogged up to the duo with a few bags in hand and a backpack. 

“E-Eddie, a b-b-bunch of stupid S-s-Slytherins kic-kicked us out!” he seemed to have some type of speech impediment, either than or he was about to cry. 

His eyes looked between Richie and the boy known as ‘Eddie’

“Is ev-everything alright?” He asked a little bit defensive of Eddie as he edged closer, Eddie’s eyes had changed though. Richie took note, he raised his brows and swiftly took to the taller boy’s side.

“Jesus Bill, we spent at least 15 minutes fighting for those seats” Eddie quickly brushed off Richie as well, something Rich didn’t like as he tried to enter the conversation once more. 

“Oh, Ed’s! Is this your nanny?” Rich adjusted his glasses and referred to the ungodly sized bags at ‘Bill’s’ side. 

Eddie swiftly sneered at him before scrambling to pick up the suitcases on his own will, he failed miserably at the size of them and silently let Bill help. 

Bill walked towards Richie and offered up a free hand, his smile was a bit crooked and his eyes felt all-watching. It freaked Rich out as he was a bit overwhelmed by his eagerness to greet him. 

“S-s-sorry about Eddie, he’s just like that. I’m B-bill Denbrough, this is Eddie Ka-kaspbrak. Although it seems like y-y-you’ve both already made an i-m-impressio-” Eddie stepped in a bit closer as well and put a small hand on Bill’s side. 

“Yeah, we’ve met. And he sucks, we should keep looking for a cabin now” Eddie seemed to want to cut the conversation, despite his shifty eyes. And, for some weird itchy feeling, Richie decided to be  _ nice _ . Not taking pit on the pair, but to just try to make friends? Bev would flip if she saw Rich do this, usually, she was the people-talker. 

“Hey wait! I got a perfectly big enough cabin for you virgins if you’re interested?” Richie pointed back to where he came from, and just like an angel sent from the heavens, the train loudspeaker came up 

**“THE TRAIN WILL BE DEPARTING IN FIVE MINUTES, YOUNG WITCHES AND WIZARDS PLEASE FIND A CABIN” **

And just like that, Bill was dragging Eddie as they followed an awfully bubbly Richie. 

  
  


_ Stanley _

Stan decided it was an amazing time to maybe consider jumping straight into an oncoming train right now. 

_ No, that’d be too messy.  _

So instead, Stan chose to focus his attention on the actual, present, train. Specifically, the one he should be getting on right now, the one he should be bolting for, yet he couldn’t find his feet to naturally do so. His parents had already left, thinking they saw him walk onto the train when he really just stepped inside for five seconds, watched as 12 kids his age ran past him screaming holding their wands out, and walked back out instantly. 

His eyes weren’t shifty, just wide and panicking. He never sat back down either, he just stood on the edge of the platform. He could leave, and just live in London as a lonely 11-year-old? No, most of his important bags were already taken away. 

Stanley must’ve looked strange from a distance, mainly because he was just tapping his foot and staring blankly into the sky, both fists to his side clenched. 

_ He shouldn’t be a coward, he couldn’t! He promised.  _

For a while, just for a few minutes, Stanley would try to calm himself. He’d try to recount the seconds in between each train whistle, the forlorn sounds and hiss and screech of some faraway train leaving. But not his, no he still had five minutes, according to the train conductor. Yet he couldn’t find a reason to move, and he couldn’t bear to look at his father’s watch, or even the stitched on badge with the infamous “Hogwarts” logo on his robes. 

But, Stanley remembered. He was  _ brave,  _ he wasn’t going to let a stupid subjective clique-y school get the best of him. No, he was going to enter the school, like he was chosen, and fucking assert himself into it. He was done standing around, he took one foot and placed it in front of the other before- 

“Hey! Hey, you’re gonna miss the train dude” Ayoung boy, seemingly his age, with a bright smile and warm brown eyes, had approached him. 

Stanley’s attention was pulled to him as he cocked a bit of an irked look, but decided to soften it at the boy’s attitude. He seemed, *calm*. 

“What? Oh, no, I was just going on-” Stanley pointed to the train as he promptly picked up his book bag. 

“Mhm, I just wanted to make sure you were alright, you looked a little panicked there, y’ know? And in case you didn’t see, we’re the last students on the platform” the boy moved slightly to show the sea of parents waiting for their students to leave. No black robe in sight, no Hogwarts sewn-on patch. 

Stanley smiled stupidly to himself, he really could’ve missed it. 

“It’s okay to be nervous, just gotta put one foot in front of the other. That’s what my Dad told me, and I don’t doubt he was right, now c’mon” he gently guided Stan towards a beckoning train worker. 

The only real thing that stood out about the boy, was his voice, it wasn’t British like most here. American! Was he chosen specifically too? “H-hey, wait. Are you American? As in, invited here” Stan had the courage to ask as they both boarded. He barely even noticed them walking onto the actual train cart, and instead began following behind a few students. They were talking! 

“Me? Oh yeah, I actually moved to a farm in the UK about a year ago! Mostly for work, but I think my Dad did that on purpose. My Uncle’s a wizard, so I’m not completely dumbfounded with it all. And by the way, my name’s Mike Hanlon” Mike gave another swift smile, small and quick yet effective in so many ways. Stan felt comfortable. 

“Thanks for making sure I didn’t miss the train back there, Mike, I’m Stanley Uris” while he spoke, Mike seemed to take the job into his arms of finding a seat. More of a cabin really, but that was because most seats were utter chaos. 

“Well Stan, I think I found us a minorly crowded cabin, care to join?” He held the knob and cocked an eyebrow to him. Stan swiftly nodded as he clenched onto his bag even tighter. He felt the stitching and leather handling of his bookbag, focusing on its texture than who sat behind that door. 

Almost cinematically, Mike opened the door to a group of about five, they didn’t crowd the entire space, but they seemed to all talk as they were life-long friends. Stan’s eyes widened as Mike stepped in and spoke up, he went red and tried to hide his face behind Mike. 

“Hello! Got room for two more? We’re not caring much” Almost automatically, Mike gripped Stan’s arm to pull him forward a bit, to actually show off Stan and his wimpy leather bag. Usually, if this was any other situation, Stan would snap at him to stop touching, but right now he was more sheepish than anything. 

All eyes had focused in on the two boys, this was Stanley’s worst nightmare, almost as if it was one of those dreams where people went to school naked. 

Thankfully, the deathly silent air had been cleared by an awfully tall boy, with cropped brown hair, and dancing blue eyes, then he spoke. “Y-yeah, we have enough ro-room. Right?” 

The rest of the peculiar-looking group nodded heads like it was no other trouble for them. This made Stan take a breather, right before he was thrown into a corner seat by Mike. Well not *thrown* but he just felt like that. 

“Thank you, I’m Mike, this is Stanley” Stan gave a lazy wave as he cornered himself a bit, Mike sitting across from him, flashing a smile. 

“I’m B-bill” 

“Beverly, Bev for short” 

“Oh, Ben!” 

“Richie ‘Trashmouth’ Tozier! Pleased to meet you nerds” 

“Eddie” 

And for the rest of the long train ride, Stanley was sure of himself that everything was going to be okay. And he was happy with that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment on feedback and if you want more chapters! (Just so I have some inspo for writing)   
:)


	3. Chapter 3: None of This Is Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slight angst and some character building, don't worry we're almost at the Sorting Hat bit. Richie is feeling raw and uneasy about Hogwarts, also Beverly is the best and I love her so fucking much. 
> 
> Small hints to Stenbrough? Idk man read into the lines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus sorry for the godamn shortest chapter I've ever had the audacity to write. I think it was necessary though. If I want these characters to ever have real growth I'll have to kinda set up their relationships and motives early on. And I'm sorry for the long-awaited update, my school has me on my knees crying and begging. Writing rn seems like a chore but I really wanna continue this series so I'll try to keep my updates longer and more consistent! Anyway please leave me a comment/any feedback I really appreciate anything to keep me going :)

**Chapter 3: None of This Is Us**

  
  


_ Bill  _

“So wait- c-can you explain w-what the H-Hat does?” Bill looked hesitant as his eyes focused on Mike, they had been on the train for over an hour now, and everyone was settling in getting to know one another. 

Bill made mental notes of their personalities, what they had in common and what made them all different: 

  * Beverly: She was a fierce and bold girl, something Bill had never grown up to ever experience. She seemed to have this all-knowing determination in her, he liked that. 

  * Richie: Obviously a joker, he hadn’t stopped pestering Eddie since they returned back to the cabin. Yet he was quick with his wit and definitely had a brain or two, he had more than he let on. 

  * Ben: Possibly the kindest of them all, Ben had the face of a boy who would grow up to better things, maybe even a bit more good looking than he was now. He also knew a lot about architecture and shared detailed history facts with a few of the other kids. He was smarter than most, that was for sure.

  * Mike: Probably the second kindest of the group, Mike seemed to know everything about Hogwarts, more than anyone else at least. He talked with this passion in his voice that really inspired Bill, maybe he would write about what Mike talked about. Mike was the most real out of them all, he thought anyway. 

  * Eddie: After the solid few hours Bill had talked to Eddie on their flight to London, he was sure that he was a walking handbook of everything health-related. He was scrawny yet tough, in a way that an angry chihuahua might have been. He seemed to get along with Richie the most, they were already an annoying pair. 

  * Stan: Out of everyone, Stan was the quietest one. He barely said a word when first introducing himself, and felt a bit disconnected with everyone else. Bill managed to nudge some conversation, still, as he learned quickly Stan was probably the most frightened of the group. But, he spoke in a way an old person would speak, wise. Something beyond Bill could really understand, Bill liked it. 
  *     * Stan was poetic in a way, Stan also had a thing for birds. He’d kindly requested to take a window seat in order to see them as the train passed. 
  


That was everyone, six kids Bill had easily learned about in the past hour, yet he still had so much to learn. 

But currently, he was listening to Mike. They all were, everyone had been focusing on him as he spoke about Hogwarts, and it’s incredibly audacious history. Even Richie had settled down from picking on “Ed’s” as he called him, just to pipe into Mike. 

  


“It’s like, a whole other society right under our noses. And we’re products of two societies clashing with one another” Mike made it sound like war really. “The UK has Hogwarts, and America has the Ilvermorny School. My Dad said they had settled on taking transfer students to prove their way of sorting young Witches and Wizards weren’t biased” He paused for a bit, to let everyone take a small breather and really understand the situation, '' otherwise, we wouldn’t have even gotten those letters” Bill instinctively felt his pocket for his own envelope, they were all connected with it. 

  


“That makes us guinea pigs in a way, I guess” Stan spoke up. Everyone looked at him, yet he didn’t look back. His eyes stayed clear on the window as the grey skies had well overtaken the horizon, everything felt colder. Not even Rich could crack a joke. 

  


“Yeah, in away. But I see this as a good thing, personally” Mike chimed in to let a small warmth back. “My Dad said that our American School had always been a bit stuck up and that a change of students could help bring diversity! So, technically we’re among the few batches of wizards-” 

  


“And witches” Ben had cut in as he looked over to Beverly, who in return gave him a strong smirk. 

  


“-And witches-” Mike added, his smile just as bold. “-to make history like this. I mean, something impactful y’ know?” 

  


“Yeah history is great and all, but how special are we if there’s about several other American students with us too? Who’s to say one of us, let alone one of them might fuck up in Hogwarts and prove the whole experiment wrong?” At some point or another, Richie had to have been blunt. He’d been quiet for too long, yet Beverly was quick to shut him down. 

“Because we were_ chosen_, Richie.” Her eyes felt a bit fiercer than before, they burned a bit. “Don’t ask ‘what if’s’, because I can’t answer those. But I just feel it, somewhere deep down, that this was fate…” 

  


Richie quickly snapped back, something clearly irking him about the whole situation. “Oh, so you’re a magic 8 ball now, here let’s shake you around a bit and see if I get a ‘Ask again later’!” He instinctively turned around to Eddie for a high five, then to Stan as he sat in between the two, but was shot down as Stan slapped his hand away. 

  


Beverly simply flipped him off, she had done this many times before. Bill could tell by how natural it came to her. 

  


“H-hey, whatever the ci-circumstances are, we’re h-here now and I d-d-don’t think we want to wa-waste any opportunity given” Bill spoke up, he looked at the others carefully. “B-besides, we’re a minority here, we ar-aren’t from anywhere near L-London. So, how about we stick t-t-together?” He offered his hand into the center of the cabin, everyone stared at the arm a bit nervously. 

  


“There’s no way you assholes are actually doing that, right? It’s more predictable than Beverly’s little ‘feelings’.” Richie looked at everyone skeptically. And for a moment, Bill worried not everyone would join in. 

  


That was until Mike had slapped a hand over Bill’s, then Stan, Beverly, Ben, Eddie, and lastly, Richie. Who seemed reluctant but was stared down by the others as he rolled his eyes. 

  


“Look at us, A Lucky Seven” Mike had pointed out as they all returned to their seats, Stan smirked a bit, adding “You mean _The_ Lucky Seven, not every day you get a jumble of idiots like us” Stan smirked, yet returned his gaze back to the window. 

  


Everyone else soon resumed any normal conversations they had previously been having. But it was once again interrupted as Ben spoke up. 

  


“Wait, what houses are we going to be in?” 

_Richie _

  
  


On all of Richie’s lives, he could swear he had never felt more out of the body than today. 

  


This was normal for him to feel out of place and get snappy. Bev saw this as Richie’s own defense systems, it was his way to tell people he was uncomfortable with a situation. 

  


Hogwarts signaled all the alarms for Rich. He couldn’t help but keep a little quiet as Mike explained their time being at Hogwarts, and when Ben began to explain how each of the houses had worked. To be labeled and placed orderly under something as stereotypical as “Houses” had purely baffled him. 

  


From a young age, Richie found it hard to properly fit in, actually up until two years ago he could never express himself like other children. Sure he had loving parents, but they worked too much for them to notice how Rich was different. How he seemingly flew through his classes in school yet somehow managed to be the most troublesome student, always finding himself in fights he couldn’t finish. 

  


Maybe it was New York, all that negative and suffocating energy that most New Yorkers seemed to be built with. Or maybe it was society's own repressed ideas of how boys his age should act, because bottom line, Rich was never like other boys.

  


Not like the ones in his school, his crowded and cluttered school. That was until he had met Beverly. 

  


The two had been living in the same building for years, Richie would see her all the time taking out the trash and picking up mail. But he had never talked to her at school, in fact, he didn’t really talk to anyone at school. Most of his time was spent in some form of detention, even if his teachers had already known well enough that Richie “Trashmouth” only gave himself detention for some sort of shelter from the horrors of public school. 

  


Once again though, this all ended well after Beverly Marsh had begun talking to Richie. They both had earned themselves a “disciplinary Saturday school” and had gotten to know one another. Over the course of 3 months, the two had started hanging out and spending time inside the school, sometimes outside. 

  
Richie learned that Beverly had lived with a physically and mentally abusive man she called her father, and her mother had passed away on her own terms. Then after about a year,_ The Thing_ happened. Long story short, Bev became apart of the Tozier family.

The two had been inseparable, and Richie’s parents had to have been a godsend in their own way. 

  


This all led back to now, to the boats that gradually led to the castle. To where Richie stood right next to Bev, somewhat in fear, and somewhat in anxiety. He promptly shut up as soon as the train had stopped. _Who was even driving it? _

  


Richie stared anxiously as bunches of wooden rowboats began to cascade down the lake in front of them, descending from the great castle that towered over the sky. Kids began gathering onto the boats, and the seven kids themselves had been close to the board. 

  


“Hey, Rich” A voice was accompanied by a hand as Richie was pulled back from the line, in fact, he was taken a bit away to the side by none other than Bev herself. 

  


“Jesus fuck, Bev! You can’t just drag me away as that” Rich had snapped in a manner he thought he was joking, but it sounded like an actual serious complaint. 

  


Beverly simply rolled her eyes and crossed both arms. “Cut the crap, Richie” That was all she really needed to say, the two both knew that anything Rich would try to combat with would be futile. He’d need to speak his mind at some point. 

  


So he rolled his eyes, took a huff of breath and kicked his worn-out sneakers to the gravel. “Beverly. You’re not seriously thinking any of this shit is normal, right?” Richie looked up at her with a serious look, one she had been rarely familiar with. She didn’t respond, and instinctively put a hand to her hips. 

  


“I mean-” Richie’s eyes shifted as more students began to pass the two, eventually leaving them as the last ones left. “All of this, all the fancy talk and all the fancy fucking magic! None of this is us! We grew up in New York for christ’s sake, the grimiest place you could imagine. And now, we’re supposed to be some fuckin’ special little snowflakes that are gonna be wizards? No, we’re just pawns in these people’s sick game. We’re _nothing _to them here.”   
  


The sudden outburst had definitely taken Beverly back, her locks of hair hung over her face as she eyed Richie with a more than hurt look. “Are you serious? Are you still hung up on that? On what Mike and Ben discussed on the train?” 

“Rich, we’re different. I think that was made pretty damn clear when we both got those two letters. Now listen to me, I know it seemed too good to be true at first, but this is a chance for both of_ us_!” Beverly put her hands on both of his shoulders, and for a second he felt as if it was just the two of them. Like when they would have 12 AM conversations together on the fire escape. Where the world and its messy facade would disappear between them. Sure, Rich had only been living with Beverly for a year and a half, but to him, they felt so much more connected. 

  


He had eventually snapped out of whatever train of thought because in a split second Beverly was hugging Richie tightly. Her embrace familiar and warm, he felt tingles run up and down his spine as he let her engulf him. 

  


“Just, trust me, Rich. This is going to be better than before. Okay?” It was funny, actually. Bev had been broken and abused for so long that, it seemed as if she was so whole in her own way. 

  


A slight nod had come from the boy with now frizzled hair. It was beginning to sprinkle, and just in time, a very concerned Bill had been heading towards the pair. His face a bit red as he stopped dead in his tracks, realizing that whatever the two were doing, it was personal. 

  


Beverly let go of Richie to turn back and pull the pair over to Bill, smiling, as if nothing had happened, she began to clutch Rich’s hand for clarity. It definitely helped. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope anyone who's reading this enjoyed it :) I have a lot of actual plot planned for the fifth chapter, which would be them aged up to 16. So I'd probably just get through chapter 4 quickly to set up everything else.


	4. Chapter 4: This Is Not A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've skipped into the Loser's (aka the Lucky Seven) and their 6th year into Hogwarts. Beverly has a dream, and the Losers feel it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I lied, we're skipping straight into a time jump. I'm sorry I didn't make an entire chapter just for the sorting hat ceremony, but I've had better ideas for that. In fact, I want that moment to be more personal to other characters so it's importance will show up in different chapters. It has to do with other characters so I'd rather write it another time :) 
> 
> Thank you for the feedback over this story, personally I think the first 3 chapters are a prologue leading up to the main story. Which starts here. Also quick change-up! I know I said Pennywise wouldn't be named Pennywise in this story, but I've settled that he will be named Pennywise. Just for the sake of it being such an iconic name and that I couldn't think of anything else for him, :p 
> 
> That's all for now! Please enjoy this chapter, a big favorite of mine to write so far :) 
> 
> Also please notice that every chapter from here on out will be dedicated to a song in the official IT and IT Chapter 2 Soundtracks. Because I thought that was a cooler idea.

**Chapter 4: This Is Not A Dream **

_ Beverly  _

  
  


_ The huff of an inhaler, a shaky hand, nervous sweating, a sea of black coats, blood, and flames. They all flashed in the young girl’s head. All without warning nor the slightest hint of substance.  _

_ “You know you’ll always be my little girl Bevvyy…” A hideous and unfamiliar voice echoed in each ear. Yet drowned out once again in waves of thick gushing liquid. It wasn’t his… no, he was long gone... It was something else. Something sinister and insidious, unlike The laugh of a madman, followed as Beverly saw herself. But through a mirror, she was her own reflection. She reached out only to find that it was a pond, with a ripple that sucked into itself, pulling the young girl as she toppled over into the mirror frame. Her hands stopping herself as they gripped each side of it. Her necklace with a strange small key hung down from her neck, Beverly cried out to hold herself up. The cold and dark void wind blew into her face as she held on. It was both taking her in and throwing her out in an attempt, but Beverly did not budge. She didn’t falter, and in an angry response, the void screamed out. A banshee scream followed by dozens of dark-cloaked figures, passing by Bev as she was now floating. The frame which she so hopelessly held onto was now gone. Her body was falling upwards, almost as if she was being dragged, yet her hair floated up and as did her necklace. Hopelessly she reached up, and as on cue, three lights cascaded downwards towards her. Three ever-growing bright lights, they flickered in colors. From yellow to blue to a burning red. Only to settle on white light and encase Beverly with their aura. Dark claws gently reached out beneath her, but by now she had hardly noticed. All she could focus on was the lights as they burned through her with warm promises  _

_ “Soon, they’ll all float too. Not just you Beverly”  _

_ The dark hands of shadow closed around her, connecting together in a big boom. And she was gone.  _

  
  
  


Beverly woke up in a sweat, with gasped breaths and panicked eyes. She slid out of her blankets and scrambled to brush out her shortened hair. It’s fire curls illuminated with the bleeding moonlight. 

“Beverly? Beverly!” A hushed whisper had snapped her out of the hysteria and relapse she faced. The cold pale hands of the young girl next to her cupped Beverly’s face as she felt a weight pressing down on her bed. 

“Raven, I’m- I’m fine…” Beverly’s eyes finally opened to meet face to face with the very concerned Raven Brighton, her wavy blonde curls were swooped into a very lovely and almost perfect high ponytail, sometimes Bev wondered how she could sleep like that. 

Taking a deep breathe she shrugged Raven off politely rushing over to the door before turning back, “If the prefect wakes up, cover for me” And with that, she fled down the stairs to the common room. Leaving a sleepy Raven behind as she shrugged and got back into her own bed. 

  
  


_ Eddie  _

  
  
  


It had to have been, what? 3,  _ maybe  _ 4 AM.

By now the time didn’t really matter, what mattered was a very obnoxious bird pecking Eddie’s feat at god-knows whatever hour in the night it was. He looked down to view a small beedie-eyed black and white owl, it was young and hyperactive for its age, yet full of everything wrong in the world at the same time. Eddie instantly recognized it as Richie’s bird. 

Quickly sitting upwards, Eddie reached for a small parchment of crumpled paper it held in its talons, the damned bird snapped at Eddie as he pulled away. This forced him to curse “Jesus fuck!” he whispered out and promptly pushed the bird away, and as quick as it came it was already out the open door. 

His attention turned to the paper as he held onto his hand, staring at the very loopy and curvy handwriting. This was very much Bev’s writing, she and Richie must’ve been sharing their owl, Dorian. 

He read the words under his breath 

_ Come downstairs to the common room in 5 minutes, it’s important. Get Bill too, he’s a heavy sleeper. _

  * _Bev_

  
  


And with a groan, Eddie was up. 

This was normal, right? I mean it was already his 6th year at Hogwarts and he was well adjusted to life. Sure, it was years and years of ongoing wizardly antics but, life was alright. Eddie thought this to himself as he got up to put on some slippers and a robe his mother had given him as a going-away gift. Which was no surprise as he had picked up sewing and knitting in order to cope with Eddie’s absence in her life? But it was funny, even after all this time she still hovered. Even to a point where Eddie’s father had long left the family. 

Maybe it was for the better, right? After that first week of leaving Hogwarts, his father was never the same. When he went home for holidays and breaks, his father was much more vocal about his opinions. He stood up to Myra Kaspbrack, and he spent much more time with Eddie. All until a few months ago, where he was… gone. No trace, just vague letters that acted more as chainmail than anything else. All cryptic shit that no one in the Lucky Seven group could decipher. 

So, maybe this was normal. Eddie wondered, after all these years, how much of a routine had he fallen into the wizarding world that owls waking you up at 3 AM was deemed “normal”. 

But, that was all 3 AM talk. Right now all Eddie could do was shake old Big Bill awake. He held onto his robe tightly and lazily flicked Bill until he heard groans, a very groggy “W-what?” was heard from the mess of blankets that was Bill and Eddie responded quickly. 

“It’s Beverly, the Common room…” Another groan was let out in a lazy attempt in response as Eddie made his way to the door as it was left swung open. He caught a glimpse of himself in a nearby mirror and scoffed, he looked just like his father, old and scrawny. 

Richie would probably flip his shit right now and call Eddie some idiotic crap like “cute” or “spaghetti”. The thought alone made Eddie smile as he death gripped the railing down to the common room.

Barely seconds later Bill was making his way down in a more clumsy manor. By now they were all proper teens, and as teens, they had all gotten growth-spurts. Bill, Beverly, and Ben might have gotten the most noticeable ones by far, especially Ben. But Bill was taller and more filled in, his muscles from Quidditch with Mike had really brought him out. But, in the end, he was still a bit awkward with his height, so the occasional trip and stumble down flights of stairs were inevitable. 

But Bev? Oh, she was basically more enchanting than any magic Hogwarts combined. She had grown into her body and was much more comfortable than she as in the first  2-3 years. As said by Richie himself, she was probably every one of the Lucky Seven’s first crush. But Eddie couldn’t say he cared, sure she was pretty but she wasn’t Eddie’s type. 

And Ben, now, that was the face of a boy who had a good-looking future. Sure at first meet he had looked like a typical butterball kid who’d probably be the butt of every joke, but ever since year 3, he had grown into so much more. He was probably the one Eddie trusted most with secrets and anything in between, maybe besides Bill, or even Richie. 

The two boys ventured down as quietly as they could down to the Common room, where Beverly would inevitably be sitting. But as they cascaded down to the warmly fire-lit room, they discovered a very dismantled Bev. Her hair had clearly been ratted through and she was standing with her arms crossed. She was cold. 

Like the natural-born leader he was, Bill had quickly walked over and draped a blanket over her from the couch. “What's wrong Beverly?” He asked calmly, his sleepy demeanor was still present as his last few words had been slurred. 

She turned to him with a frown, she was obviously hurt, and scared. Eddie took big note of this, in all of their years at Hogwarts, he had never seen Beverly so scared. Other than a few select times, he wondered if they had anything to do with it. 

“I… I had a vision. A feeling, it was horrible..” she took a pause, her mind clearly racing as she looked to unwrap all of her words. “And no, it wasn’t a dream. It was  _ real _ , and I couldn’t get out of it, I felt it _ all _ .” Beverly was quick to answer Bill, who had the look of question on his face.

“B-Beverly, we’re your friends... Anything you experience? We experience too. T-tell me more a-about the dream-” 

“Vision. It was a vision, Bill.” Eddie chimed in to reassure Bev, who was already smiling sweetly at Eddie. He liked it when she did that, he liked it a lot. It was comforting. 

“Thanks, Eds. But he’s right, I can’t just say it was a vision, or that any of it was real. But all I can do is trust you guys and the others to help me make sense of it. Alright? I know it’s random and so sudden, but what I just felt wasn’t like any other nightmare. It was toxic and grim, and… and just..” Tears began to well up in her eyes as she looked up to both boys, a frown appeared as Eddie and Bill went to hug her. “Something is lurking in Hogwarts, you guys… this is not a dream..” 

_ Ben  _

  
  


All of the Losers had settled down in the Room of Requirements, it was their own hideout. And the best part? Little to no one else knew of its existence. 

Ben had found the space by pure accident, and to be fair, it had to have been the best discovery of his second year. He knew Hogwarts had so much more to offer, yet this had been just the beginning. 

He had been running from Henry Bowers and his gang of goons who had somehow managed to also be chosen as American students. In fact, there were about 50 direct students chosen from America, the Losers had been lucky to even be apart of it. But anyway, he had managed to escape them for a quick moment. Only to find an already open Room of Requirements, it’s magic just spewing out the seems as he rushed into it to seek shelter.

It was cold and dull at first, almost like a prison. But Ben saw more, he saw so much more. So much potential that he couldn’t share not it with the Losers. 

And from that discovery alone, it had sparked endless nights and memories that Ben or anyone else would have imagined. They’d go on to call themselves “The Lucky Seven”, a more positive ode to their other name by a portion of the students at Hogwarts, the Losers. But even as the Lucky Seven they had become their own clique, their own safe hideaway that was more of a family to some. 

Ben hadn’t seen his mother in years after his first year at Hogwarts. He liked to think she was still waiting for him, on the bridge of the Platform back in London. But she wasn’t. The only thing she had been waiting for was waiting for Ben to leave, go somewhere she knew he’d be alright on his own. From that realization, he’d then been more in love with the Loser’s group than anything. In reality, they were all he had. 

The truth was, he had now lived with Mike on their family farm. And he had enjoyed every minute of it because even in the Summers he wasn’t alone. 

This all had made this moment just as powerful. As the seven of the students sat in their decorated secret hideaway, they focused on Beverly as she described her vision in great  detail. And when she finished, everyone stayed silent. Richie didn’t dare crack a joke, nor did Stanley ask any questions that would’ve upset her. Everyone was dead quiet and somehow had felt what she felt all this time. They were afraid. 

“Beverly, we could try the library? There’s probably some book on divination about this. Stanley and I can go look” Mike chimed in, Ben noticed this as a way of Mike coping. To Mike, there was always some way to fix things. No option was too bizarre from him. 

“That would help, yeah. I think Professor Trelawney wouldn’t mind if we asked her a bit more on the subject of visions. It is another form of divination, after all, it’s like we’re studying.” Beverly wasn’t as distraught as Ben had seen earlier, the gesture of potential seemed to have calmed her. 

“So uh, Bev, if any of your psychedelic trauma visions turn out to be true, can I call you a fortune cookie?” Richie had also added from his corner of the room, where he was seen in the darker parts with a dimly lit and fading cigar dangling between his nimble fingers. He was almost villain as if it weren’t for his painted nails that no doubt came from Beverly herself. Out of everyone in the group, he seemed to have changed the most. 

Eddie had scoffed at the remark and competed Richie with his own wit, “You shit bird, of course, you can’t. This is serious, you didn’t see her as I and Bill did.” 

A smirk was growing from Richie as he shook his head and put out his cig. Tossing it into the roaring fireplace. “Oh come on Eddie Spaghetti, it was just a joke! Besides we need to lighten up, whatever you and Billiam experienced must’ve been ten times darker than right now. This is different, alright?” Richie had made his way towards little ol’ Eds as he draped an arm over him, sitting next to the still small Gryffindor in a very Richie manor. 

Ben took note again of how comfortable the duo had gotten, they were like an old married couple if anything else. 

Beverly only responded with a wave of her hand, dismissing Rich and lifted her head to signify her need for a smoke. He nodded back and tossed her a small smoke-stick, Ben hoped she’d one day quit. 

“I think we’ll find more if we search in different places. Mike and Stanley can go their own way into the Library, and the rest of us can use our resources to ask around” Ben  had somehow found the courage to begin talking. Something he found himself more likely to do throughout the past years. 

Bill seemed to light up as he heard Ben speak this, out of everyone, Bill had been a big supporter along Mike to help Ben come out of his shell. The Losers all knew Ben was shy and awkward, but he was genuine at heart. And he was lucky that Bill had taken an interest in this. Bill worked with him all the time to be braver, and Ben couldn’t have been more thankful. 

“Ben is right. I t-think if we want to g-get down to what Bev ex-experienced, we need to dig a b-bit deeper into what the vision meant. Stanley” 

Out of everyone, Stanley had been the quietest. He wasn’t shy, just, small. Out of everyone, he was the hardest to notice, or even figure out for that matter. Only Richie and Bill had been the most knowledgeable about Stan the Man Uris. 

Stan had piped up as his eyes were drawn to Bill, a soft blush appearing on his face as he tilted his head. “Bill.” Was all he responded with. 

“Converse with Beverly, please? I t-think if anyone is smart enough to recall the s-symbols in her vision, it’d be you” Almost everyone had agreed with Bill’s statement, all but Stanley himself. His blush had disappeared and his face turned to dread. 

“Bill. We talked about this, I can’t just look at her and immediately intrude on her personal-” 

“No, it’s fine. Stanley” Beverly had sat next to Stan and placed her hand on his shoulder. To which he shrugged off gently. “I’m allowing you inside. Just the vision, I promise.” 

Her eyes met his as she comforted him. Yet his eyes still focused on Bill as he nodded. Looking at the floor now, he sighed. “Just the vision then. Okay?” 

Stan had Legilimency. And as everyone knew, he hated it. Everything about the idea of being able to read people’s thoughts, to invade their space and corrupt their minds.

“Thanks, S-Stanley, we can talk later if you want. But I think, I think we’re getting somewhere. D-don’t you guys think?”


	5. Chapter 5: 27 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my long-ass break. I never found the motivation to write but after these last couple of weeks, I'm ready to hop back into it. 
> 
> Anyway, this is sort of a transition chapter to set up the next. Plus I just wanted to play around with the character's first rather than just have plot on the plot on the plot. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: 27 Years Later 

Richie 

Five years had passed that fast huh? Richie thought about this every day, or at least every day since the Losers Club had started their sixth goddamn year of Hogwarts. 

Which, to Richie, was terrifying in his own mind. Every now and then he’d find himself staring blankly into anything within his Line of Sight, but he wouldn’t be thinking of that particular item, he’d be thinking about how long he’d been attending this school. Almost as if he was daydreaming the whole scenario, and within one snap of a finger, he’d be 11 again. Sitting in the principal's office simply imagining the whole situation. 

But no matter how many times teachers snapped in his face to wake up, he’d always be in the same school. In one of the many wizardly classes, he took, surrounded by magical students in equally magical society. 

Sometimes he felt like he didn’t belong, because in reality he probably didn’t. 

“Richie fucking Tozier?” An ever so chilling voice went off right from behind Richie as he was finishing putting on one of his black studded earrings. So what, he wore earrings, but so did a portion of other students did too. But it had been an almost too perfect excuse for Bower’s to trouble him about, among other things. 

Whipping around to gaze at the mullet-wearing-asshole ™, Richie couldn’t help but smile in a sly way as he leaned against the Slytherin bathroom sink. His eyes held carefully of his surroundings, luckily, it was only Bowers and Hockstutter, and a kid he had only seen occasionally. 

This kid was none other than Henry Power’s cousin, Connor, someone Richie knew not to mess with because of Henry. He only found it curious when Connor had begun hanging out with his cousin more often lately. 

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite Slytherin students. Hockstutter! Nice to see you’re still trying to sell the whole pedo look, it’s going well!” Richie gave a standardized wink as Patrick stayed silent. Which, was also odd, Richie noted that.   
“We’re not here for a fucking fistfight Tozier, not now.” Bower’s almost seemed serious. “We’re here for a favor.” Connor walked up to Richie, as he straightened his seating position. In the boy’s hands were a couple of papers that had been all from the same class. Defense of the Dark Arts, there was one paper for each of Bower’s gang. 

Richie gazed them over with one look: Henry Bowers, Victor Criss, Reginald Huggins, Patrick Hockstutter, and Connor Bowers. Each of them had been a portion of the U.S. transfers along with the Losers. But they had been most known because of their terrorizing nature. 

Richie slapped down the papers on the sink and scoffed. “You want me to forge a couple of fucking permission slips?” He took another good look at the top of the documents, it was for their required DADA class. Richie almost burst into a fit of laughing as he read what they entailed. 

“This slip acts as an official pass for the yearly Boggart testing-” He began to read out in a mocking manner before a cold and sharp hand slapped over Richie’s mouth mid-sentence as he was pressed up against the dirty mirror directly behind him. Patrick was holding Rich in a menacing grip up against the sink, almost holding up the trash mouth if it weren’t for Rich’s awkwardly long legs. 

“No this is where you shut that damn mouth of yours!.” Henry barreled towards Richie and got close enough for Rich to feel the boy’s hot breath. “You get these to us by the end of the day and maybe I’ll let you off for a good week. I don’t want one of your sissy Loser’s to say a word about this or else all six of you are fucking dead.” His tone and glare did not change. Nor did that of Patrick or Connor. “And I mean that” he finished menacingly. 

Henry had almost spit out those last few sentences. Rich had never seen him like this in his life. Even back to their first few years, when the Losers had discovered they weren’t the only US transfers. Anytime they had gotten into a rumble with Bower’s gang, there was always a teacher or staff around the corner to help. 

But in the past few years, Richie realized that as they got older, they stopped carrying. Bower’s probably could kill Rich, and it would be seen as an “accident”. 

“Patrick,” Connor spoke up from one of the stalls that he leaned on. Patrick scoffed and let Rich down. “I think he understands plenty” it was odd hearing this from someone who looked like they would never even belong in Slytherin. Not alongside Bower’s anyhow. 

“Oh? So you’re Connor’s little sidekick bitch too? Shit’ well now I’ll feel bad if I don’t these signed.” Richie held up the papers and hopped off the sink as he was let go. He snickered as he carefully edged past the three boys until a hand gripped his shoulder. That same damn cold hand whipped the trash mouth around, giving him the punch of a lifetime. 

Eddie 

“I seriously can’t believe you’d egg Patrick on like that! You’re a fucking idiot Richie Tozier” 

The sound of Eddie bickering had to be the only thing Richie was focusing on. The two were sitting in the Room of Requirements alone, it was midday and they had always made sure to have free periods with each other. Eddie knew that Rich was lucky to have left that boy’s bathroom with his nose in one-piece. 

“What? You should’ve seen Patrick it was like he was a puppet, he just listened to that bitch boy Connor like that was his master or some shit” Rich spoke as he sat with crossed legs on the floor near the fireplace. Eddie had settled on an old wooden chair to give himself some height while he disinfected the wound, searching through their box of gradually collected medical supplies. 

“Okay, but what about you?” Eddie countered. 

“What about me?” 

“You don’t think I wasn’t going to be concerned? Even for Bower’s, this is pretty harsh.” Richie hissed as a small cloth was dabbed with alcohol onto the cuts on his nose. “It’s like he’s getting more violent every day. Last week didn’t you and Belch get into a fight too? It’s like they’re only targeting you.” 

Rich didn’t respond. If anything he just continued to look up at Eddie, well, not that Eddie knew. He was too busy being the medic of the group. If anything, Rich was admiring him from below. 

Eddie had seen him look at him like this for a while now. Not in a mocking or judgy way, but something else. Like he was proud of him. 

Eddie had come out years ago, during their fourth/third-year transition. It wasn’t so surprising to any of the other Losers at the time, in fact, a year earlier Bill had come out as Bisexual. Everyone had been supportive, and this allowed Eddie to be himself. He was more open with his body and personality, still maintaining his pissy attitude. In the back of his mind, he always thought Richie was jealous. But even that was ridiculous, right? Right. 

Right now though, he was wearing his classic red shorts and a yellow polo, accompanied by a lovely couple of daisy’s in his hair courtesy of Richie. Rich was always embarrassed to ask Ed’s to fix him up, so he thought he’d give him a gift. Eddie hated the robes at Hogwarts, black would probably never be his color, let alone the Gryffindor Scarlet and Gold. 

“Look all I’m saying is, next time this happens, I won’t be able to fix you like this. We’re running low on supplies anyway” Working his magic, the two were almost finished. “Besides, what’d they want from you? I’ve never even seen Connor hang out with Henry” 

Richie’s eyes had closed, something he did when he was often nervous or trying not to lie. Eddie never told Rich that he knew this little tick of his. 

“I dunno, something stupid. Homework.” Rich said flatly. And with this dry answer, Eddie could only roll his eyes as he stood up. 

“Finished. Just, stop getting into trouble. And if Bev asks, Peev’s tricked you or something. Understood?” Eddie gently put away their homemade first-aid kit and stored it under one of the floorboards. 

“Aye aye, Captain Ed’s!” Standing up, Richie had done his cringe-worthy bow, followed by a pinch of Eddie’s cheeks. Sometimes Eddie hated how tall he was, sure, everyone was taller than Eddie, but this just felt more personal when it was Rich. 

“Shut up. And don’t call me Eds.” 

Mike 

Mike and Ben had been in the library for the past few hours. Ever since the Lucky Seven had their meeting earlier in the day, all Mike could think about was what Beverly experienced. 

Out of everyone, Beverly was the only one who truly specialized in Divination. Richie had dabbled but he never tried enough to make an effort, instead, he hung around the classroom from time-to-time with Bev. 

Ben knew this as sometimes he’d accompany them. 

“So, I don’t know if we could go ask Professor Trelawney about this. She’s on one of her fallsmc retreats with McGonagall and a few other teachers as well. And I don’t want this to be written on a letter for anyone to interfere with” 

Ben spoke from his seat at a desk, the pair were the only two other than Richie and Eddie that could actually manage to get some research done. Mike was sitting on a window seat, looking out at the rather cloudy day. The rain was definitely heading their way.

Currently, Mike had been taking tedious notes on the ever-so interesting topic of hallucinations involved with divination. Beverly, Bill, and Stanley had been busy with their own classes. 

“So wait, there’s a number of professors out right now?” Mike turned to Ben from his spot, he had a quizzical face on. It was unusual for multiple teachers to be out at once, even for Trelawney, she would have babbled on for weeks about some sort of trip. 

“Yeah, it’s weird. Not even an announcement, just stand-ins until they get back. I thought it was weird too, almost insanely weird until I heard Nearly-Headless Nick confirm it.” Ben rummaged through his bag, pulling out multiple photos of the teacher’s on horse-drawn carriages.   
“I also found Trevor Wells in the hall interviewing The Fat Friar, our house ghost. Apparently, they left early this morning.” 

Mike took the pictures and glared at them, there was no way to tell if they were in a rush or if it was an actual trip. 

“This does look early. You don’t think it was around the same time Beverly had the vision, do you?” Puzzled, he gave them back to Ben. His eyes turned back outside to the Great Lake. “I think I know who we can ask about this… But we’ll need Stan.” His head directed over to the dark forest. 

Ben went over to where he looked. He took one gulp and Mike could tell the poor boy was getting antsy. “C’mon, Ben. I think this is bigger than us. Bigger than what Beverly or Bill or even Eddie had originally thought. Don’t you want to do this for Bev?” 

Mike always had a way with words, more than anyone else in the Lucky Seven anyway. He had been a great charmer and almost every Professor adored him. He was also an amazing listener, often Mike knew things about people they didn’t even know. And the one thing he knew about Ben for sure, was of his undying five-year pining for Beverly Marsh. 

“Fine fine!” Ben was blushing like a mad man, the poor thing. “But we need to do it tonight if we want anything done soon, the coach is going to have us practicing every day after this storm passes.” The two had been in Quidditch for about two years, they may have been the nerdiest of the group, but it had become their one way to be another version of who they were. 

Sure, Bill was in Quidditch too, but that was typical for him. Everyone loved Bill, he was so unapologetically him that it was expected. But as the standard out-casts, Mike and Ben had shared the sport with one another in a way no one else did. 

“Don’t worry Ben, I wouldn’t miss practice with you.” He had stood up to give Ben a warm hug. Mike knew he was the best hugger of the group too. 

“Now come on, we have a few centaurs to talk too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, comments are admired and they really keep me going! I'll be trying to write as much as possible. Kudos if you can and feedback is much obliged :)))


	6. Chapter 6: Home At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice look into Stan's mind and his world for the majority of the chapter, also Bill is in this :) along with lovely Ben and Mike.

Chapter 6: Home At Last 

Stan 

Stan hated this, he hated school and the way no one was genuine. The way no one really paid attention anymore to what was in front of them. No one was appreciative of Hogwarts anymore, not into their sixth year anyway. Granted, Stanley Uris was one of those students. 

Instead of praising the school from the very beginning, he saw right through the magic of it all. Hogwarts wasn’t the same as Stanley as it was to Beverly, or Bill, or Richie, Eddie, Mike, and Ben. It was a place with dark secrets that were glamorized by magic. 

For a while though, it was home. Stanley knew this much. He knew that by his second year he’d realized how much he relied on being here and how much it hurt to leave. Because when he didn’t have the losers with him, he wasn’t anyone. He was Stanley Uris, the old man in boy’s clothing who found the most interesting thing in life to be watching birds in their nests. Who did puzzles because he enjoyed it. Who watched “old as shit” movies (or as Richie called them) because they felt real and genuine. 

Stanley Uris wasn’t a kid, he was on his way to becoming the neighborhood geezer that gave out organic fruit snacks for Halloween. The type who lived happily alone yet everyone suspected otherwise. And a bit of him accepted that fate because when being a wizard didn’t work out, he’d just become some accountant. He was good at math. 

Or worse, if Stanley did succeed as a wizard, he’d be an accountant wizard. The worst job to have when you’re in a world of magic. He also accepted that fate, he never said it out loud like how Richie teased, but he thought about it all the time. 

That was of course until his 3rd year, their groundskeeper Barnaby was a sprite 40-year-old centaur who had begun working at Hogwarts the same year Stanley had been the first year. And the two hit it off almost instantly, Barnaby was young for his age in spirit. 

He wasn’t like the typical stoic and scary Centaur, he was warm and round. He wasn’t athletic, but Stanley liked that, he had a dad feel to him. A hint of protection too. Barnaby was about 6’4 with his horse appendages, and he had lovely brown tanned skin. His brown hair almost constantly held up into a mess of a braid or sometimes dreads, depending on his mood. He wore frames that gave him a mad-scientist look as well, and almost always wore a loose button-up that had sleeves pushed up to his elbows just to show off those tattoos every girl and boy in Hogwarts had gossiped about. 

Some suspected they were mandatory in being a Centaur, some say he had been a captive of some Midnight Traveling Show that branded him at a young age. Or whatever wild tall tale they had the creativity to make that day. 

But like Stanley Uris, who asked, then anyone would know that they were simple tattoos with meanings behind them. Barnaby had a long life to live and share, so when Stanley had shown an interest in the class during his 3rd year, Barnaby took this as an initiative to open up with Stan. He was kind and gentle, yet relaxed and cool. Probably one of the coolest adults that wandered on campus. 

He soon had joined Barnaby in starting a COMC club, with a silent C. Patty Blum was their first member, and almost their only alongside Betty Ripson. Surprisingly any interested student had only shown up to thirst over Barnaby himself, only to then realize that the club did genuine work and mostly remained in the Forbidden Forests. 

Stan quickly realized how much he disliked Hogwarts after the club. Because in reality, Hogwarts didn’t care. Any magical creature either worked for them or remained locked in the castle. The ones remaining outside in the surrounding woods are left to be, leaving Barnaby really being the only phenomenon they’d have. 

Stan’s hatred of the treatment with magical creatures in their school had been his reasoning for being annoyed with them as well. He realized that the only way anything was taken care of in this school, was the actual school itself. Not even the students mattered, as long as no one died then anything could happen really. 

Even Barnaby could be treated falsely and Hogwarts would pass them by with a simple hand wave. 

“If it were my choice, you’d have your own section of the castle dedicated just for teaching.” Stanley had said one day as he helped feed their local Hippogriff. He was gentle with tossing raw fish to the young beast, her name was Gammy.

“If it were your choice, Stanley, Hogwarts would become an exceptionally safer place to be. Although I can’t imagine you’d be able to change much of it by hosting this club” Barnaby spoke up as he was focusing on mixing a small portion to help gather the essence of hormones used to attract wild pixies. 

Patty spoke up from her own bit of the open woods as she was working on grading some of the sheets of work that Barnaby occasionally gave out when he realized not many would have the gut to actually touch a Hippogriff. “If Stanley ran Hogwarts, we’d be our own Wizarding Ivy League.” She giggled at the idea, her lovely blonde hair had been pulled back into a wavy ponytail. Her eyes reflected the sun as she graded the work quite efficiently. 

Often Stan found himself looking at her in awe, almost. Which was one of the reasons he’d asked her out in his fifth year? They were almost the perfect match as well. Everyone thought so, everyone except Stan, who had managed to be his most neutral with her. Always walking on eggshells in fear he’d ruin what they had, in fear he’d ruin the most normal aspect of his life. 

Stan thought about things like this every day. From the club to his classes, his future, his friends, and his girlfriend Patricia Blum. Yes, he hated a lot of the students in class and Hogwarts' own self-indulgent standards, but he didn’t hate all of it. Because in the end, he knew he had owed a lot of who he was to them. 

“Stan!” a very familiar voice had called out to him, he instantly recognized it as the one boy in their group who couldn’t truly be called a loser. 

“Hey Bill,” he said flatly as he waved off Betty Ripson, who’d been the last to help Stan clean up late after class. They were on the outskirts of the forest, outside of Barnaby’s hut. Barnaby had been called into the castle for a meeting at the same time Stan was delivered a message from Mike’s owl to stay where he was and wait for him and Ben. 

What he didn’t expect was Bill Denbrough running to him with ruffled hair and a rather red face. He didn’t even have his Gryffindor robes, just his cardigan and some pants that needed to be ironed. Stan cringed a bit just thinking of everything that boy needed. 

“What’s with that face? I j-just got out of Quid-quidditch” Bill had the same old stutter, and the same dreamy-eyed look in his face even when he was redder than the scarlet Gryffindor colors. 

Stanley quickly shut down the question of his own face and stood up from the over-sized pumpkin he had been sitting on. “Where’s Mike and Ben? They said they needed me for something.” 

Huffing a bit with his breaths, Bill wandered over to Stan and began to smile wide. “Those two? Coach made them run extra laps because they were late. Library again” by the way he said this it seemed as if this was a usual thing. “They’ll be over here soon, but for now it’s just us Stan the man” he playfully tugged Stan's shoulder who was more than not okay with the physical touching. 

“Great. Just great.” Stanley didn’t move from Bill’s touches, he sort of stood there as if he just had something better to do. 

Bill 

“What, do you have somewhere to be?” Bill asked as he sat down on a nearby pumpkin, which was freakishly huge. He wondered if Barnaby, Stan’s centaur friend, had been growing these on purpose. To actually be chairs rather than food you could eat. 

“Nowhere, Bill. Just me and Patty, we were going to go eat tonight together again.” This only received an affirmative hum from Bill, his hands rested on his thighs. Often Bill knew how close Patty and Stan were. They were together, after all. Sometimes Bill even wondered if Stan liked her more. Which was worse though as it made Bill feel sick. 

The silence shared between the two was long, it was inevitable though. Bill considered Stan to be close to him, after all, Stan had confided even his worst fears to him during their 2nd year. Besides Mike, Stan had probably been closest to Bill out of all of them. But even recently it was as if every thread Bill had worked on weaving between them was breaking. But not from tension or from pulling, but as if Stan himself was cutting each tie. 

Bill only stared at him, while Stan looked into the distance. His eyes wandered to the trees and even then, Bill knew he was looking for birds. It was the evening now, so many wouldn’t be as out and about. He learned that much from late nights spent with Stan. 

Bill recognized early on how much Stan hid from the others, how much he never said, or didn’t mention despite how close they were. 

“Sorry! We were caught running late and coach-” Ben was the first panting voice to appear from the blue. But he had promptly shut himself up as he noticed the most unbearable amount of silent tension radiating off of Stan and Bill. 

Mike was close behind as he clasped a hand onto Ben’s shoulder. “How are you getting faster than me man?” Mike was disheveled as he shrugged on his robes and walked towards Stan, clearly not getting the sense of the air. “Alright, Stanley Uris! Where’s Barnaby?” He was forward with his demands, as he often was. 

Stanley only looked at him with his classic glare “You’ve already missed him. He’s in the castle.” 

This news gave Mike a bit of a loop as he sighed heavily and put both hands on his hips. “He’s a 6’4 centaur, Ben, how did we miss that?” He turned back to Ben who was already facing the castle.

“Plan B?” Ben suggested, with a knowing look that Mike would understand. And Mike only nodded as he rubbed his hands together. 

“Well guys, how do we feel about hunting down some centaurs?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please throw me some feedback and comment! I appreciate kudos', as well as anything like that, inspires me to keep writing. Especially since I have A LOT planned for this. My mind is a machine babey.


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